Internal Security Operations Command

Internal Security Operations Command
กองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคงภายในราชอาณาจักร

ISOC meeting with PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in 2011
Agency overview
Formed1965[1]
Preceding agencies
  • Central Security Command (CSC)
  • Communist Suppression Operations Command (CSOC)
TypeGovernment agency
JurisdictionNationwide
HeadquartersRuen Ruedi Palace
Nakhon Ratchasima Rd., Dusit, Bangkok, Thailand
MottoPali: Asādhuṃ Sādhunā Jine ('Conquer evil by the power of good')[2]
Annual budget10,240.1 million baht (FY2019)
Minister responsible
Parent agencyOffice of the Prime Minister
Key document
WebsiteOfficial website

Internal Security Operations Command (Thai: กองอำนวยการรักษาความมั่นคงภายในราชอาณาจักร; RTGSkong amnuaikan raksa khwam mankhong phainai ratcha-anachak ) or ISOC (Thai: กอ.รมน.; RTGSko o ro mo no) is the political arm of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.[3] It was responsible for the suppression of leftist groups from the 1960s to the 1980s. During this period it was implicated in atrocities against activists and civilians. ISOC was implicated in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.[4]

After Thaksin was deposed by the 2006 Thai coup d'état, the junta transformed ISOC into a government within a government, giving it wide-reaching authority over the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Department of Special Investigation, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO). The junta also authorized it to help provincial authorities in marketing OTOP products.[5][failed verification]

In June 2007, the junta approved a draft national security bill which gave ISOC sweeping powers to handle "new forms of threats" to the country. The ISOC revamp modelled it after the US Department of Homeland Security and gave ISOC sweeping new powers to allow the ISOC chief to implement security measures, such as searches without seeking prime ministerial approval.[6]

  1. ^ Pawakapan, Puangthong R. (November 2017). "The Central Role of Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command in the Post-Counterinsurgency Period" (PDF). Trends in Southeast Asia (17). Singapore: Yusof Ishak Institute. ISBN 978-981-4786-81-2. ISSN 0219-3213. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  2. ^ ประกาศสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง กำหนดภาพเครื่องหมายราชการ ตามพระราชบัญญัติเครื่องหมายราชการ พุทธศักราช ๒๔๘๒ (ฉบับที่ ๒๖๘) ลงวันที่ 9 กรกฎาคม 2555 [Announcement of the Office of the Prime Minister on Determination of Official Symbol under the Official Symbols Act, Buddhist Era 2482 (1939), (No. 268) dated 9 July 2012] (PDF). Government Gazette (in Thai). 129 (Special 130 D). Cabinet Secretariat: 19. 2012-08-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  3. ^ "Thailand's Deep State—The Military". Asia Sentinel. 2017-11-14. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Thai police thwart bomb plot against PM Thaksin". The China Post. 2006-08-25. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  5. ^ Bangkok Post, CNS advises extended term for AEC, 14 February 2007
  6. ^ "Cabinet approves security bill". Bangkok Post. 2007-06-20. Retrieved 15 November 2017.